The overall goals of this continuing Program Project are to develop a better understanding of the mechanisms linking oxidation and inflammation to cardiovascular disease. Each project focuses on elucidating mechanisms of how distinct yet interconnecting pathways of oxidation operative during inflammation contribute to cardiovascular disease and disrupt homeostatic mechanisms normally responsible for resolution of inflammatory responses. The Program Project is led by a team of highly productive experts and comprised of 3 interrelated projects and 4 cores. Project 1 focuses on the leukocyte-derived heme protein myeloperoxidase (MPO), an enzyme that can catalytically consume nitric oxide and is a critical participant in oxidative and inflammatory injury during atherosclerosis. Genetic, biophysical and clinical studies are proposed to further define mechanisms responsible for regulating MPO activity in vivo and their links to development of cardiovascular disease. Project 2 is thematically linked to Projects 1 and 3, and explores both the role of the ribosomai protein L13a in post transcriptional resolution of inflammatory gene expression, and the inhibition in this inflammation response "off switch" by the actions of myeloperoxidaseand nitric oxide-derived oxidants. The theme of inflammation and oxidation continues in Project 3, which will study mechanisms through which endothelial nitric oxide synthase becomes "uncoupled", leading to increased oxidant production, endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular disease. Three scientific cores (Mass Spectrometry;Biophysical and Computational Chemistry;and Protein Engineering and Expression) and an Administrative Core provide multiproject support, expertise and service in a cost-effective manner, significantly strengthening the entire research program. The Program Project also benefits from shared access to a large repository of clinical samples and connecting database from well-characterized patients who underwent elective cardiac catheterization and for whom long-term follow-up is available. The proposed Program Project will yield a greater understanding of the role of oxidation in normal physiologic processes and disease pathogenesis. It may also lead to important insights for atherosclerosis risk assessment, diagnosis and therapy.